Assassin Siblings
by Gozilla
Summary: A mission assigned to Killua and Karuto two years before Killua left home (and joined the Hunter exam) had changed the relationship between the two assassin siblings for the rest of their lives. What happened?
1. Default Chapter

Assassin Siblings  
  
By Gozilla  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything and I don't have anything. So don't sue me!  
  
Please excuse my poor English. ^-^  
  
Reviews are most welcomed!!  
  
Enjoy!!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
*crap* - thoughts  
  
"crap" - conversation  
  
(crap) - author's note  
  
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A/N: Ever wonder why Karuto (Killua's sister, who wore a kimono all the time) was treating Killua very differently from her other family members? She even saved Gon's life once from her family's hunting dog when Gon and the others were trying to take Killua away from his family mansion.  
  
The following fic is a little imaginary story of what might had happened between the two siblings about two years before Killua decided he was not going to be an assassin and left the family that led to a dramatic change to the brother-sister relationship between Killua and Karuto in this chilly cold family.  
  
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Chapter 1 - Torture Session x Killua's Dream x The Mission  
  
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~Present~  
  
~Outside of the Zoldyecks mansion~  
  
"Ahhhh." yelled a boy with spiky black hair. He was dangling over the edge of a huge cliff, with only one hand holding tightly to the cliff edge for his dear life.  
  
To make things worse, there was a gigantic, monstrous hunting dog standing on the cliff, staring at the small boy as if it was deciding to eat the boy alive or to push him down the cliff.  
  
Just before it could put its decision in actions, whatever it was, a sharp whistle came from the depth of the forest behind the cliff. The dog turned to the direction of the whistle, listening. The sharp whistle came again. The dog, though very reluctantly, left the boy and ran to the origin of the whistle.  
  
"Gon!" shouted a blonde youth with a hunter running along beside him, "Are you alright?"  
  
"Yes, I am OK." Gon answered, climbing up to the platform of the cliff, "Kurapika, what happened?"  
  
Kurapika turned and looked to the direction where the huge hunting dog had disappeared among the forest, "I have no idea. I just heard a sharp whistle and the dog just went into the forest."  
  
"Is that so..." Gon murmured, looking into the depth of the forest, "I wonder who have saved me..."  
  
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~Inside the forest~  
  
The hunting dog obediently laid on the forest ground, looking at the small figure in front of it.  
  
A small girl in kimono was gently stroking the hunting dog, her eyes staring at the direction of the cliff, "Oniisan's... friends?", her usual blank eyes waved with emotions.  
  
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~Two years ago~  
  
~Inside dungeon of the Zoldyecks' Mansion~  
  
Sounds of whip slashing through flesh echoed across the whole dungeon.  
  
It was an old, dimmed dungeon. Smell of burning flesh and rotten bodies mangled in the air. Numerous torture equipments, anything from what you had seen, you expected, to something you couldn't had ever imagined, hanged along the wall. There were so many you would think you were walking in a museum.  
  
Unfortunately, they were not for exhibition, but were used, everyone of them, onto a small body hanged mid-air in the middle of the dungeon.  
  
There was another round of whippings echoed across the dungeon. When the whipping stopped, the only sound audible was a person's heavy panting.  
  
A fat youth, with a ball-shape body, was holding a thorny whip, heavy panting. In front of him, was a small boy hanging in mid-air by chains attached to the ceiling of the dungeon. The boy had silvery white hair and his skin as pale as snow, if no included the wounds and bruises all over his thin body.  
  
The white-hair boy did not make a sound, his body unmoving. He was nowhere near unconsciousness. Instead, his deadly black eyes stared right straight into the eyes of his torturer, the fat youth standing in front of him.  
  
The fat youth sensed a chilly feeling going down along his spine. He tried to avoid the glare by hitting hard on the pale face with his whip. But the glare always turned back, deadlier every time as it returned.  
  
"Damn!!" the fat youth shouted, "Stop staring at me with that look!" But no avail. "You asked for this!" the fat youth murmured to his victim. He turned to a microphone installed at a corner of the dungeon, "Switch on the electrocuter! At one million volts!"  
  
A strong electrical current was transmitted to the small body through the chains. The small body was surrounded by electrical sparks. The boy's eyes were wide opened in pain. But still, no scream, not even a sound was made by the boy.  
  
"K'so!" the fat youth cursed. He yelled, "Make it 2 million volts!"  
  
An even stronger electrical current hit the small body. The boy closed his eyes tightly, fighting the urge to scream his lungs out in the extreme pain. He used all his remaining energy to keep his mouth from making any sound, but he couldn't stop his blood overflowing from his mouth.  
  
"Enough, Milluki." a tall thin figure appeared at the door of the dungeon.  
  
"But, Illumi." Milluki protested, "This brat is spoiled! We must teach him a lesson to respect his brothers."  
  
Illumi ignored the protest and turned to the microphone and said, "Switch off the electrocuter."  
  
The electrical current stopped, leaving a smoking body of the small boy. Near to black-out, the boy struggled to raise his head and looked at the door of the dungeon. Beside the tall figure, a woman and small girl stood, watching.  
  
"Killua! You have done a great job!!" the woman squeaked, "You can now withstand electrical current at 2 million volts without making a noise or blacking out! Mama is so proud of you!!"  
  
The ten years old Killua ignored the squeaking of his mother and turned to look at the little girl standing beside her. *Karuto...* Killua thought as his sister looked at him with a pair of beautiful, but yet, unconcerned eyes.  
  
Killua felt that exhaustion was overcoming him, threatening a black-out. Although having black-outs for various reasons, poison, torture or extreme exhaustion, was a daily ritual for the young assassin, he never like it as he felt vulnerable when he was unconscious.  
  
He could not remember how he got unchained, left the dungeon and went to his room by himself. All he remembered was the beautiful eyes of his sister before he was dragged into darkness at the very second he hit his bed.  
  
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~In Killua's dream~  
  
~Killua's POV~  
  
It was like yesterday when my sister was born.  
  
I was four years old when Karuto was born. She was the most beautiful thing I had even seen. I liked my sister, her smile, her cry, her every move. I almost felt like I... loved my sister.  
  
No, this was forbidden in the Zoldyecks family. Even saying that little word would lead to severe punishments. The Zoldyecks family, as the famous assassin family, should be cold as ice and emotionless.  
  
But I was different. Although I was considered to be the heir of the Zoldyecks family and the most talented assassin in the family's history, I did not want to suppress my emotions. I did not want to be a killing puppet. I wanted to be myself, to be Killua Zoldyecks, not someone's emotionless shadow.  
  
I paid high price for being myself. My father, Sillva, and my oldest brother, Illumi, had been trying very hard to put out the emotions within me. Ten years of endless torture, threats, hypnosis, even locking me in a cell full of dead bodies for a month when I was nine, all these still couldn't extinguish the my fire of emotions in my heart.  
  
I remembered I spent a lot of my free time between training sessions with Karuto before she turned four. It was the happiest time in my life. I played with her, talked to her, and care for her. I knew she was happy too. She smiled, she laughed, and she cried. She always came to me whenever she was happy, angry, and sad.  
  
Until... until the day she turned five. I remembered the day when my mum took her away from me, saying something about it was time for Karuto to start her training and I was spoiling her for showing her too much emotion. I remembered it was the last time I saw her eyes filled with emotions, anger, sad and concern.  
  
It was one whole year after her fifth birthday before I saw her again. But since then, her eyes were blank, emotionless like all the others.  
  
At first, I tried very hard to revive her heart by talking to her and accompanying her. After 6 months of endless efforts, I found it was impossible to find my lovely sister anymore.  
  
I gave up on the attempt to revive her emotions. But I didn't give up on her. I will love her my own way, regardless if it will be only a one-way giving...  
  
~End of Killua's POV~  
  
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The sound of an intercom phone rang across Killua's room.  
  
Reluctantly, Killua woke up and reached for the phone. Every muscle of his body ached. He made his movements as slowly and smoothly as possible in order to minimise the number of wounds, which were all over his body, to be re-opened.  
  
"What is it?" Killua murmured to the phone.  
  
"Master Killua." came the voice of a servant, "Sorry for interrupting your rest. Master Sillva and Master Illumi would like to see you in the conference room and they are waiting for you in the room."  
  
"Got it." Killua murmured before hanging up the phone. He laid on the bed for a few extra seconds before started moving again very reluctantly.  
  
"Damn it!" he cursed as several just-closed wounds re-opened when he slowly got off his bed. He would love to pay a million dollars for a few more minutes on his bed. But he knew too well that his father and brother would not be happy to wait and the consequences of getting them upset could be very serious.  
  
He slowly changed his clothes, which were all tore and soaked with his blood. He didn't even bother to bandage the wounds as he would go through another round of whipping and torturing training tomorrow.  
  
Silently, he walked out of his room and went towards the conference room where his father and brother were waiting.  
  
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~The conference room~  
  
Sillva and Illumi were sitting on the sofa placed at the far end of the room, watching the flame burning in the fireplace. Karuto was standing in front of them, reflection of the flame flashed in her soul-less eyes.  
  
The door of the room slowly opened, a white-hair boy stood at the door.  
  
"Father, you want to see me?" Killua said quietly, head lowered.  
  
Sillva looked at the young boy, "Yes, Killua. Come in."  
  
Killua closed the door and walked towards the two men. He couldn't stop but looked at the back of his sister, who stood very still, not even turning to acknowledge the arrival of her brother.  
  
Killua stood beside his sister, both facing their father and brother.  
  
Sillva looked at his two children standing in front of him for a while, "Killua, Karuto, I want you both to go with Illumi for his next mission."  
  
Killua frowned slightly in disbelieve. He was surprised not about the assignment to him, as he had been assigned to go on to missions with Illumi since the age of four, but to Karuto, *She is only six and she is a girl. Why is father assigning her to her first mission so soon?* (A/N: No, no, I am not implying sexual discrimination. I am a female myself. But I always believed that the training for the female Zoldyecks would be less tough than for the boys.)  
  
Sillva continued, "Your mission is to help Illumi to kill a politician in Yorkshin. It should be an easy mission. You will leave the mansion three days later. Get yourself prepared by then." He turned and looked at Killua, "Killua, your training sessions for the next two days will be cancelled. Go and treat your wounds. I want you to be at your top conditions for the mission."  
  
"Yes father." Killua said as he watched his sister silently turned to leave the room.  
  
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~Three days later~  
  
Illumi stood beside a warship which was parked in front of the mansion, "Killua, Kurato, are you ready? We are leaving now."  
  
"Yes, Illumi, we are ready." said the young assassins in unison.  
  
Karuto walked towards the warship with Killua beside her. Killua looked at his sister, "Karuto, are you alright? It is your first ever mission. No matter what, just stay close to me or Illumi, OK?"  
  
Karuto did not even turn to look at her younger brother, but walking straight to the warship, and said in a ice-cold tone, "I will be fine, Killua."  
  
Killua looked at his sister, sensing totally nothing but coldness from his sister. He sighed and followed Illumi to board the warship to Yorkshin.  
  
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~Two days later, near mid-night~  
  
~The forest outside of a mansion in the outskirt of Yorkshin~  
  
Three pairs of dark eyes shone in the darkness, watching every movement inside the mansion through the thick leaves of a tree on the edge of the forest.  
  
The three Zoldyecks assassins were hiding outside of the mansion, waiting for their only opportunity to accomplish their mission.  
  
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~Flashback~  
  
~Three hour ago~  
  
Illumi, Killua and Karuto formed a circle in the middle of the forest outside of the mansion. Illumi held a map in his hand, showing it to the two young assassins.  
  
"This is where we are." he pointed to the map, "And this is the mansion where our target is living. According to the information provided by the client, he rarely leaves the highly secured mansion as he knew he has too many enemies waiting to kill him. However, he will leave the place today as he was invited by the mayor of Yorkshin for a dinner at 8pm."  
  
Illumi looked at his younger brother and sister with his blank eyes, "We will wait at the edge of the forest in front of the mansion." He turned to Killua, "Killua, you will help me to kill off the security guards when I will kill the target. Understand?"  
  
"Yes, Illumi." the white-hair assassin replied.  
  
He then looked at Karuto, "Karuto, you will observe how we defend off the security and kill the target. So keep yourself well hidden. Got it?"  
  
"Yes, Illumi." answered the girl in kimono.  
  
*Seems that it will be an easy mission as father said.* Killua thought as he took a glimpse at his sister, he found no trace of emotion on her face.  
  
Illumi stood up, "Alright, let's get working."  
  
The three disappeared from the spot at a blink of eye.  
  
~End of flashback~  
  
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~Outside of the mansion~  
  
The assassins watched as a large group of heavily armed security guards left the mansion building area, with a fat short man in the middle of the group.  
  
*That's him.* the three assassins thought in unison.  
  
With a silent nod, Illumi and Killua left the tree and charged to the fat man with lightning speed, leaving Karuto hidden behind the thick leaves.  
  
Killua manipulated his hands, revealing razor-sharp nails, and killed two of the guards by slashing their throats before they could even see his face.  
  
Illumi, on the other hand, threw a handful of pins at the group of guards, killing a dozen of them before they could make a sound.  
  
Guns began to fire as the other guards finally realised that it was an assassination. Killua and Illumi avoided the bullets with phantom moves and killed more guards on their way to the fat man.  
  
"Protect me!!" yelled the fat man in the middle, "You useless group of rubbish!! Protect me!! Where is my army? Protect me!!"  
  
Suddenly, a heavily armed army appeared at the gate of the mansion.  
  
"Nani?" Killua murmured.  
  
Illumi looked at the army at the front gate, still no emotion shown in his eyes, *Well, I didn't expect this. I guess the information we got is wrong again, as usual. We have underestimated this mission. This pig is really heavily armed. I'd better finish him off as soon as possible.* he thought as he killed another dozen of guards with his pins.  
  
The soldiers of the army spread across the open area between the mansion and the forest, surrounding the two assassins. Killua and Illumi stood in the middle of the circle, back-to-back.  
  
"Hah!" laughed the fat man, "You two are dead men! Who are you? Tell me who sent you here and I may consider sparing your pity lives!"  
  
"No need to tell a dead man." Illumi said before he and Killua charged at opposite directions, starting fighting and killing the soldiers around them.  
  
They were having a hard-battle as there were simply too many guards and soldiers, especially for young Killua. He dodged bullets flying all around him and he had a hard time fighting some of the strongest soldiers in the army.  
  
Killua was so focused with all the killings before he heard someone yelled, "Look! There is a strange looking girl hidden in the tree!! She must be one of them!"  
  
Sounds of gunfire echoed around the edge of the forest.  
  
"Karuto!!" Killua yelled as he saw his sister leapt from the tree, barely dodging bullets fired at the spot she was hiding. A small group of soldiers went after her.  
  
As a six years old child, Karuto showed incredible speed and reflections. However, she had not yet been trained to attack nor she had any weapons with her. So all she could do was dodging and avoiding the bullets and attacks of the enemy.  
  
"Get out of my way!" Killua yelled as he slashed his nails through another soldier's throat. He knew his sister was in a very dangerous situation and tried to get close to her to protect her, "Illumi! Help Karuto! She can't fight!"  
  
Illumi half-turned to look at his younger brother and sister, who were struggling to stay alive. His face and eyes blank, "I will finish off the target first. You two just hang on." and he continued to make his bloody way towards the fat man.  
  
"K'so!" Killua cursed at his brother's coldness. "Karuto, hang on!" he yelled through the chaos, hoping to give some confidence to his sister before he could get to her.  
  
Another round of gunfire. Karuto got hit in her right leg. Killua watched in horror as she kneeled beside a tree with one hand covering the wound, trying to slow down the blood loss. A group of soldier closed in for the kill. Karuto could do nothing but looked at the soldiers approaching her, fear filled with her eyes.  
  
"Die, little monster!" the approaching soldiers yelled, guns aimed and fired at the little girl paralysed on the ground, her eyes tightly closed.  
  
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End of Chapter 1  
  
I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review and comment!  
  
The second half of the story will be posted soon. Stay tuned! 


	2. Chapter 2 – Why? x Sacrifice x Siblings

Assassin Siblings  
  
By Gozilla  
  
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Disclaimer: I don't own anything and I don't have anything. So don't sue me!  
  
Please excuse my poor English. ^-^  
  
Reviews are most welcomed!!  
  
Enjoy!!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Thank you to all of you who read the story and left a review! I will try my best to improve my writing skills and the story line in the next fic. ^- ^  
  
Gozilla (5 Sept 2003)  
  
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I feel so sad that I received no review for the first chapter. Maybe I didn't do well on my first fic with Hunter x Hunter. I will try again and hopefully will come up with a more interesting story.  
  
Gozilla (4 Sept 2003)  
  
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*crap* - thoughts  
  
"crap" - conversation  
  
(crap) - author's note  
  
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Chapter 2 - Why? x Sacrifice x Siblings  
  
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"Die, little monster!" the approaching soldiers yelled, guns aimed and fired at the little girl paralysed on the ground, her eyes tightly closed.  
  
The bullets never hit the little girl. She disappeared from the sight of the soldiers in a flash of white and black shadow.  
  
Karuto felt someone had lifted her up and moved around at very high speed. She slowly opened her eyes and saw her rescuer, "Killua!"  
  
The next thing she noticed was a large deep red stain on his shirt around his right chest. She looked at the stain and realised in shock that he was hit right through the chest by one of the bullets aimed at her.  
  
With his sister in his arms, Killua could not attack those soldiers and guards. He could only dodge and avoid bullets and assaults from all directions. He knew very well that he would not last long but he had no choice, he would not leave his sister to die.  
  
Ignoring the excruciating pain from his chest, he moved around in his top speed, but he was slowing down due to the massive blood loss from his chest. He found it more and more difficult to breathe and his vision began to blur.  
  
The soldiers and guards took advantage of Killua's weakened form and his inability to counter-attack, they attacked him with intensive gunfire.  
  
Karuto watched as the red stain around her brother chest extended in an alarming rate and she could feel his breathing became very rough, "Killua!! Put me down and run for your life!"  
  
The white-hair assassin took a glimpse of his sister's face, determined, "I will not let you die. I will protect you whatever it costs."  
  
A weird sensation surged from Karuto's heart, a long-lost feeling of ... emotion? Her tears started running down her cheeks, pleading, "Killua, please put me down. Why are you doing this? Why? I am not your priority. This is not what father and mother taught us..."  
  
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~Flashback~  
  
~Inside a training room of the Zoldyecks mansion~  
  
Killua and Karuto stood in front of their father and mother, who were sitting in a sofa.  
  
"Now." Sillva said in his deep authoritative voice, "I am going to teach you the very basic, yet the most important principle of being a successful Zoldyecks assassin. Which is, the priority of matters."  
  
Sillva looked at his two children, observing any movement or gesture of the two small figures. He found nothing but concentration, impressed, "For every mission, our very first priority will be the accomplishment of the mission. No matter how and what it costs, including your own life, you must accomplish the mission assigned to you."  
  
Sillva continued, "Under the condition that you can accomplish the mission assigned to you, the second priority will be your own life. You will save your life, if possible, for the next mission."  
  
"Lastly, if the first two priorities are fulfilled, your third priority will be your partner's life. Only when you knew the first two priorities are secured, then you can take your partner's life into accounts. Do you understand?"  
  
"Yes, father." said the two children in unison and total obedience.  
  
~End of flashback~  
  
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Karuto looked at her brother in total confusion, waiting for his answer.  
  
Killua didn't turn as he was too busy dodging bullets and assaults, out of breath, "I don't give a damn shit of that priority thing! I only know that you are my sister. I love you and I am going to protect you to my last breath!"  
  
Karuto's eyes wide opened at her brother's confession. Long-suppressed emotions flooded to her heart, threatening to drown her.  
  
In shock, the two young assassins faced the most intensive round of gunfire. Killua found himself trapped in a deadly shower of bullets and there was no way they could avoid all of the bullets and escape intact.  
  
Killua grinded his teeth in determination. He turned his back to the deadly bullet shower, using every inch of his own body to cover the little girl in his embrace.  
  
Sickening sounds of metal hitting flesh was audible. Over a dozen bullets ran mercilessly through the small body of the young white-hair assassin. His eyes widened in pain. He made no sound, years of inhuman training had kept him from crying his lungs out under the excruciating pain.  
  
The white-hair assassin slowly closed his eyes and limped to the ground, together with the unmoving little girl in his embrace, and lied in the pool of his own blood.  
  
The soldiers and guards approached the two small bodies cautiously. One of them asked, "Are they dead?"  
  
Another soldier kicked boy's battered body lightly, no movement, "Of course they are. Who can survive under such an intensive round of gunfire?" He scanned the boy's body, counting the bullet holes on it, "Let alone he has taken at least a dozen bullets. He looks like a honeycomb..."  
  
The soldier could barely finish the sentence before his head was twisted to a very odd angle, over 90 degrees to his neck. He fell silently to the ground, dead. Illumi stood behind the body, his hands full of the blood of the politician.  
  
"Uh, oh." he said, looking at the two bloodied small bodies of his siblings on the ground and scratched the back of his head, his face totally emotionless, "I suppose I am a bit too late."  
  
The other soldiers and guards turned around, only to see all the others, including their boss, were lying on the ground, dead. They were so scared that they lost all their will to fight and fled the scene, leaving the assassins.  
  
Illumi kneeled beside the two bodies and pulled the boy's body away from the smaller body beneath it. "Karuto." Illumi murmured, inspecting the girl's body, which was soaked in her brother's blood. She was unconscious as a result of shock. He found no obvious wound on her, *She will be alright.*  
  
Illumi then turned to look at the white-hair assassin, who was lying very still beside his sister. He inspected the boy's body and found that his brother was hit by 15 bullets, most of them at his back. He put his hand on the boy's neck and felt a faint pulse.  
  
"Good work, Killua." Illumi murmured to his young brother, unconcerned if it would be heard, "You have managed to survive under such fierce attacks. All you have to do now is to stay alive until we get home."  
  
Illumi stood, holding his two siblings on his sides, and ran towards the depth of the forest in lightning speed.  
  
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~One day later~  
  
~Inside the Zoldyecks mansion~  
  
A small girl tossed and turned in a gigantic bed placed in the middle of a beautifully decorated room. She was having a nightmare. A dream which numerous guns were firing at her and all she could see was red, everywhere.  
  
Abruptly, she woke up with her whole body covered with sweat. A trace of fear could still be seen in her eyes. She sat up, panting heavily and disorientated.  
  
"Master Karuto, you are awake." said a servant standing in the far corner of the room, "Would you like to have some food or drinks? You have been sleeping for a whole day already."  
  
Karuto looked around and realised that she was in her bedroom. "What happened?" she murmured to herself, searching her memories. Her eyes wide- opened as she remembered the mission, the fight, the gunfire, the blood, and ...  
  
"Killua!!" she shouted in shock. She turned to the servant, "Where is Killua? How is he?"  
  
"Master Killua is resting in his bedroom." said the servant half-bowing, in the usual monotone, "Your mother said you should stay in your room to rest and there is no need to worry about anything."  
  
Without a word, Karuto got out of the bed and ran towards the door. She was stopped by the servant, who stood in front of the door. "Master Karuto," said the servant anxiously, "Your mother had ordered you to stay in your bedroom and rest. So please return to your bed and get some sleep."  
  
Karuto looked at the servant, her eyes totally black and deadly, "Get out of my way."  
  
The servant felt a train of chilly feeling went through her spine, knowing exactly what would happen if she did not obey, "Ye... yes, Master Karuto." as she moved away from the door, "But... but please return soon. Otherwise, your mother will not be pleased."  
  
Karuto left the room and ran at her top speed towards her brother's bedroom. She rushed into Killua's bedroom and stood near the door.  
  
It was quiet in Killua's room, very quiet. Karuto remembered about a year and a half ago, before she started her training with her mother, she loved to come to this room, as it is the most lively area in the whole mansion.  
  
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~Flashback~  
  
"Oniisan!" an excited four years old Karuto rushed through the door and entered into Killua's room.  
  
The room was fully of all kind of sounds, a hi-fi was playing some rock music, a television was switched on playing some cartoons, while another television was on with a boy sitting in front of it.  
  
"Karuto," said the eight years old Killua, a big cheerful smile on his face, "Come in! Hurry! I have got a new video game! It is really good! You want to try? Let's play it together!"  
  
~End of flashback~  
  
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Karuto stood at the door and looked inside his brother's room. Apart from the curtains by the window, which was blown gently in the wind, the room was still and quiet, too quiet.  
  
Karuto then changed her focus to the gigantic bed placed in the middle of the room, between her and the window. There was a small figure lying on the bed, unmoving.  
  
She walked closer to the bed. An unconscious, heavily bandaged white-hair boy came to her sight.  
  
The white-hair assassin was lying still on his bed, very still. His face was paper-white due to his massive blood loss. His whole body was so heavily bandaged that he looked like a mummy. Except that there were bloodstains everywhere on the snow-white bandage, as blood was still leaking from the wounds.  
  
"Killua..." murmured the little girl, "Why did you do that? Why did you protect me while you can save yourself? Why did you use your life to protect me?"  
  
*I am not letting you die. I will protect you whatever it costs.* the last words of Killua before being hit by the bullet shower echoed in Karuto's mind, * I only know that you are my sister. I love you and I am going to protect you to my last breath...*  
  
A single tear rolled down Karuto's cheek. Her long-suppressed emotions flooded her heart, melting every inch of ice her mother had built around her heart and soul.  
  
Karuto gently held her brother's hand, her head lowered, "Oniisan... Thank you."  
  
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For the next few days, Killua remained unconscious. He developed a high fever due to his injuries. Doctors and nurses hired by the family came and went as they tried very hard to keep the white-hair assassin alive.  
  
Karuto stayed in her brother's bedroom since the day she woke up from the nightmares. She watched in silence as the people took care of her brother, but none of the other Zoldyecks' family members ever showed up.  
  
When no one was in the room, Karuto would sit on the side of the bed, held her brother's hand, and prayed for his awakening.  
  
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Killua slowly opened his eyes. He looked at the familiar ceiling, "So... I am home." he murmured, "What happened?"  
  
He thought for while before he slowly remembered the mission. His clouded mind became clear as the memory of the bullet show finally came to the picture, "Karuto!" he shouted weakly. He struggled to get up but he was stopped halfway by the excruciating pain from all the wounds on his body.  
  
He winced in pain and started falling back to his bed. Out of nowhere, a pair of small and gentle arms caught him before he hit the bed.  
  
Surprised, Killua turned to look at the owner of the arms. He saw no one but a girl wearing kimono, "Karuto..."  
  
The girl nodded, her face blank, but her eyes filled with waves of happiness. She gently put her brother on the bed, "Everything will be fine. I will go and fetch the doctors. Please rest... Oniisan." and she left the room.  
  
Killua looked at the back of his sister. A small warm smile slowly spread across his pale face before he closed his eyes as exhaustion dragged him into a dreamless sleep.  
  
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It was the last time Karuto had visited Killua's bedroom. As their training sessions became more and more intensive, they saw each other less and less frequent.  
  
But it did not matter anymore. As both of them, against all odds in this chilly cold assassin family, deep inside their hearts, had found a safe harbour inside each other's heart.  
  
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~Present~  
  
~Inside the forest~  
  
"Karuto! Where are you?" squeaked an over-dressed, face bandaged woman.  
  
"Yes, mother, I am here." The little girl stood up and waved at the gigantic hunting dog, signalling its dismissal.  
  
She ran to her mother in extraordinary speed. She stood in front of her mother, "Mother, you want to see me?"  
  
"Yes, Karuto." squeaked the woman, "It is not safe to go to the forest when some strangers are wandering around. Now, come home with me. I need to run a lecture with Killua after your brother Milluki finishes his whipping and electrocution session with Killua." she said as she turned and walked towards the mansion.  
  
Un-noticed by the woman, a flash of emotions waved across the little girl's eyes at the mentioning of the name of the white-hair assassin, before they returned to their usual blankness.  
  
"Yes, mother." said Karuto as she walked after her mother towards the Zoldyecks mansion, disappearing into the depth of the forest.  
  
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The End  
  
Thank you for reading the story to the end! I hope you enjoyed it!  
  
Please review and comment on the storyline so that I can improve my writing skills in the next fic. Thank you!!  
  
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I am currently looking for some ideas for the next fic. If you have any ideas regarding HxH or YYH (especially about Killua or Hiei), please feel free to tell me! I need inspiration!! ^-^  
  
Thank you and Ja ne! 


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